With Best Intentions
by CompYES
Summary: Little moments that never happened. At least, not when anyone was watching. Evanberry DISCONTINUED
1. Never Fear the Audition

With the Best Intentions

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><p>Summary: Little moments that never happened. At least, not when anyone was watching.<br>AN: I've come down with Evanberry fever. I already detest Finchel and I admit to becoming bored with Puckleberry (blasphemy, I know). Quinn ruining my Fabrevans was the final straw. Now, I'm doing a, "what if Rachel and Sam had a friendship behind the scenes that slowly became something more?" It'll be a chapter per episode.  
>Spoilers: Up to season two.<br>Disclaimer: I totally do not own Glee. If I did, I'd make Lea, Chord, Heather, Darren, Mark and Harry my personal harem.

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><p>Never Fear the Audition<p>

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><p>"I see you received my email. Take a seat Rachel," Ms. Pillsbury said, motioning to one of the vacant seats in front of her.<p>

"Before I sit, I'd like to ask, why have I been called here? As it is only the first day of school, I do not believe I have done anything that would yet warrant a visit to your office."

The diva eyed the guidance counselor suspiciously.

"I assure you Rachel, you're not in any kind of trouble. If you're willing to help, I actually have a project for you."

While the suspicion didn't leave her, the girl eased herself into one of the seats.

"What kind of project?" she asked intrigued, "While I am not adverse to offering my services or taking on a project, I must decline if it interferes with my obligations to glee."

"Oh, no!" the red head denied, waving her hands, "No, I wouldn't ask that of you. You know I fully support the glee club."

"Well, given your complicated history with Mr. Shuester, it would not be too far-fetched to believe you might harbor some ill intent towards him and by extension, the glee club."

"Rachel," Ms. Pillsbury said, her faced pinched as she shifted uncomfortably, "Despite the fact that Will, I mean Mr. Shuester, and I are no longer involved, I _am _still an advocate of glee club and more than capable of being professional. Now, back to the reason I asked you here. We have a new transfer student, and I'd like you to take him under your wing and help show him around school."

"_Him_?" Rachel asked, "But I thought that the new student was a female foreign exchange student?"

"Yes, we did get a foreign exchange student by the name of Sunshine Corazon, but we also have a male transfer student from-"

"Wouldn't it be more suitable for someone else, preferably another male, to take him and for me to take Sunshine?"

"It would, but I decided to find someone who spoke Sunshine's native language incase she had any problems understanding English," the woman explained, "As for why I chose you to show him around, it's because you two will have several classes together, and because I trust you to not intentionally walk him into any new student hazing, unlike many of your peers."

"I suppose that makes sense. Thank you for having such faith in my character."

"You're welcome Rachel. Now he should be here any-"

She was cut off by a knock at the door. Rachel turned in her chair to see who it was. A blond boy stood in the doorway. He was fairly tall, although when compared to her own petite stature, almost anyone could be tall.

"Um, hi," he said, staring back at them uncertainly, "This is the guidance counselor's office right?"

"Yes it is," Ms. Pillsbury responded brightly, "You must be Sam Evans, right?"

"Yeah, that'd be me."

He gave the two of them a sweet, if somewhat nervous smile. Rachel thought he was the most adorable thing she'd ever seen, right up there with fluffy kittens and her teddy bear, Sir Hugs-a-lot, that Finn had given her over the summer. Without waiting for Ms. Pillsbury to say something, she went and stood before him, sticking her hand out.

"Hello!" she greeted enthusiastically, "My name is Rachel Berry. Ms. Pillsbury has informed me that you are new to McKinley High. I'm going to be your guide today."

Sam blinked, momentarily stunned by her abrupt boldness, but continued to smile as he reached his hand out to take her own, shaking it with a gentle, but firm grip.

"Nice to meet you," he said, and then looked to Ms. Pillsbury, "So uh, what was it you needed me here for?"

"I wanted you to come here so I could introduce you to Rachel. Seeing as she has already gotten introductions over with, you're free to go and have Rachel give you the tour of the campus." She folded her hands daintily on the top of her desk. "If you have any questions, you're free to come back and see me about them."

"Okay." He nodded. "Thank you." Sam turned to Rachel. "So how about that tour?"

She almost hopped up and down in excitement. Sam seemed like a decent enough person. Maybe she could convince him to join glee while she showed him around. Leading him out of Ms. Pillsbury's office and down the hall, she planned how to approach her task. Their first stop would be to get him the books he needed and to find his locker before class started. Nodding to herself, she started rattling off whatever interesting information she knew about the school, making sure to point out exactly which spots one wanted to avoid at what times of day due to the natural McKinley disasters. Disasters such as Hurricane Sue and Jacob Ben Israel, Stalker Extraordinaire.

A shiver ran up her spine. Yes, it was imperative Sam knew of such things.

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><p>So far, McKinley seemed kind of cool. Then again, he only had about a day's worth of stuff to base his opinion off of. But what he'd seen, he liked. The girls especially. Going to an all boys school was kind of a drag on that front. Here, there were so many pretty girls, it was hard to keep cool and not fly over the moon after every single conversation he had with one. And it was amazing how many girls had come up to him, fluttering their eyelashes and flirting. He wondered if what he did with his hair was doing it or what, because he never got this much attention before in his entire life.<p>

Speaking of girls, he had one in particular on his mind. Rachel Berry. He was supposed to meet her after class so they could finish their tour. There'd only been so much she'd been able to show to him during the breaks between classes. It had been a major relief to have her there showing him the way to his classes and even be there in some of them, so he had a familiar face to gravitate towards. Sam had been a bit disappointed that he couldn't eat lunch with her, she'd said she had something to do, but she had pointed out some people he could sit with who she thought he could make friends with. And he did, they were pretty chill.

Now, he was waiting for her at his locker like they'd planned. He made a note of asking her where hers was just for future reference. He couldn't help but be glad at the sight of her, almost bouncing as she walked his way. She waved energetically, drawing a chuckle out of him.

"Hi! So how has your first day been?"

"Pretty good," he replied, walking along side her when she motioned for him to follow.

They ended up at a large bulletin board where several papers, sign up sheets he realized, hung from it.

"This is the activities board," she told him, gesturing to it, "We students of McKinley High are encouraged to have one or two extracurricular activities. It looks good when colleges are looking over your transcripts."

"Cool," Sam commented, looking the sign up sheets over.

Most of them already had at least one or two people signed up. His eyes stopped on the one listed for people to audition for something called "New Directions." He laughed a little at some of the gag names written on it.

"What's New Directions?" he asked, tapping on the paper.

Rachel's cheery expression faltered a second at the sight of the paper, before it evened out again.

"It's the name of the glee club's show choir."

"Show choir?"

"It's not so bad," Rachel defended, "I'm in it and it's fun. Maybe you should give it a try?"

"Maybe," he hedged, "I dunno. It doesn't really seem like my thing you know?"

It wasn't that he didn't like singing or stuff like that. He just wasn't sure if he was good enough. The sheet said you had to audition to get in. Sam didn't want to show up, and like, suck or anything. That would be pretty lame.

"Oh." She looked a little disappointed as she turned her attention back to the board. "I guess that's perfectly alright. Is there anything else you are interested in trying?"

Scanning the sheets, he noticed something that did.

"Here," Sam said, pointing out another sheet. It was for football try-outs, "I was on the team at my old school."

If it was possible, Rachel seemed even more disappointed.

"That sounds... nice. The uh, the team could use some new players," she offered, her voice strained.

"Yeah."

They drifted into an awkward silence. Sam looked over the sheet while Rachel fiddled with her bag.

"Aren't you going to sign up?"

Her question snapped him out of his daze.

"Uh, yeah." He went for his bag, searching for a pen, but not seeming to find one. His search was ended when he saw a pink one being held out in front of his face. With an embarrassed smile, he took the pen and signed the paper before handing it back. "Thanks."

"It was no trouble Samuel. Why don't we finish your tour now? I ought to show you where the field is, considering your interest in pursuing athletics."

"Sounds like an awesome idea," he said, smiling again with relief as he felt the previous awkwardness start to seep away.

"Then let us be off then."

By the end of the tour, Sam felt comfortable enough with the lay of McKinley. Rachel was a very thorough tour guide. And she made it so fun too. Her stories about that crazy cheerleading coach and her antics had him laughing and hoping he never had to run into her. They began to head to the front, Rachel telling him she needed to be going so she wouldn't miss her dance practice.

"Thanks again Rachel, for being so helpful."

"I told you before, I'm glad to help." She patted his arm. "I want you to know, if you need any help at all, feel free to come see me." He watched her eyes began to dull and her lips turn down in a frown. "Even if we don't stay acquainted."

"What? I don't understand."

"You will," she told him as she started heading for her own car, "Take care."

Confused, he watched as she walked away.

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><p>Over the next couple of days, Sam didn't see much of Rachel. Even though they had class together, he always found himself overwhelmed by people vying for his attention. They all wanted to check out the new kid who was going to be on the football team. He could've told them to leave him alone, but Sam didn't want to be making any enemies yet. Rachel had told him that things here at McKinley were tough and you needed as many friends and allies as you could. It had been sort of the same at his old school, and he'd been smart enough to keep his head down and out of trouble with anyone. That was all well and good for surviving high school, but when he'd made the move here to Ohio, Sam had wanted more than just that. He wanted friends, and he wanted to be liked, and he wanted to have a girlfriend.<p>

Sighing, he took out the books he'd be needing for his next class and set out for the cafeteria. He was going to be having lunch at the tables in the courtyard with Paul from math and his friends. Once he had his tray, he went outside and saw Paul waving him down. Sam paused for a second, checking to see if he could spot Rachel, but couldn't find her anywhere. He wondered just where she ate lunch if she didn't eat it in the cafeteria or the courtyard. Pushing aside his thoughts, he went to join Paul. All of the other people at the table greeted him enthusiastically. He even recognized a few from some of his other classes. Conversation was initiated, though Sam didn't make much effort to join in. He just smiled, laughed when someone made a joke, and gave polite answers when asked a question.

Just as he'd been in the middle of telling them about where he'd moved from, he heard music start to play. The others seemed to notice it as well, and all of them looked around to see where it was coming from.

Sam couldn't believe his eyes as he watched Rachel, accompanied by a whole bunch of other girls and guys, begin to sing and dance across the courtyard, dressed in matching outfits.

"Dude," Paul hissed, "Don't stare. Just follow my lead and ignore them."

Bewildered, Sam looked at Paul.

"Ignore them? Why? They're really good."

"That's the glee club," Paul explained, his voice dripping with disgust, "They're just a bunch of losers."

Frowning, he didn't understand how the glee club being losers meant they were any less good. He returned his attention to them, looking each member of the club over, but giving Rachel the most attention. It was kind of amazing. Nothing like this ever happened at his school. He couldn't understand why everyone ignored them.

Suddenly, he remembered Rachel telling him to give glee club a chance. Watching her sing and dance her heart out up there, looking so in the moment, Sam decided maybe he would.


	2. It's BritTANY Bitch

It's Brit_TANY_... Bitch.

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><p>Sam spent the next couple of days feeling like a dick. He really had been ready to give glee a shot. Rachel had already inspired the interest in him, and Finn, the quarterback of the football team who just happened to also be in glee, had given him the push to have a jam session with some of the guys. And it had been the most fun he'd had at McKinley yet. The guys in glee seemed really laid back, more than most of the other people at the school did.<p>

Making the football team was what had changed things. Sam wasn't a big jock or anything, in fact, without sports, he'd probably be one of those kids being shoved into lockers for being a dork. Still, he really enjoyed having physical activity in his life. It kept him in shape and that was really important to him. Besides, football was fun, and the guys on the team, when you were on the right side of them, were really great to have at your back laughing and enjoying dude stuff with.

At first, he didn't really know what to believe about glee. All he knew was that Rachel and some of the guys from football were in it. He couldn't really trust what everyone else said about it because anyone who wasn't in glee trashed it for reasons that sound really dumb to him. After that performance in the courtyard, he thought glee might actually be really awesome. Then he'd finally seen what glee did to your rep. He watched as Finn went from being first string quarterback to being kicked off the team. He'd seen some of the other guys on the team actually take freaking slushies and watched as they threw them at a shorter boy who'd never be able to defend himself against them. The worst thing? When he'd demanded them to tell him why they did that after the boy had fled only to get incredulous looks.

"Because he's a gleek."

They'd said that as if that explained it. Sam couldn't believe how awful the bullying was here. It worse than anything he'd ever seen at his old school. But he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. He was at the top now, he was the quarterback. He had exactly what he wanted, popularity. Now, he knew that glee was a death warrant to anyone with social status. Even if it went against what he felt was right and who he was, he didn't want to be the one on the other end of a slushie.

Still, the thought of Finn, or that short boy, or that kid in the wheelchair, or God forbid, Rachel, being slushied made him feel sick to his stomach. He made a promise to himself that if it came down to it, he wouldn't slushie anyone. That was the line. And he wouldn't be crossing it.

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><p>Ever since Kurt had brought Britney Spears up in glee (and continued to do so), Rachel had found it prudent to explore the unbridled depths of Britney Spears's genius. As a little girl, Rachel had been a bit of a music snob. Where most ambitious parents had classical music played for their babies, her fathers had wanted her raised on show tunes. Because of that, she'd spent her childhood set apart from her peers who were into those boy bands and Britney Spears. It was only in junior high that she realized she'd been missing out on so much music. It had been horrifying to think that she'd been limiting her potential like that. So this was a perfect opportunity to correct a mistake she'd been making and see what it was like.<p>

Later was better than never after all, right?

That was what led her to reading _The Unauthorized Biography of Britney Spears_ and looking up music videos on youtube in her spare time, which then in turn led her to had that vivid Britney inspired fantasy where she'd been singing "...Baby One More Time" to Finn in ridiculously skimpy outfits while at the dentist office. It had been disturbing at first, because Rachel was sure she'd never wear anything like that outside of theatrical purposes. After a little consideration, she'd realized that the iconic sexy schoolgirl look Britney had donned in her music video wasn't all too different from her own daily attire. At that realization, a thread of inspiration fluttered in her. What if she tried the look out? It wasn't like she had anything to lose with some experimentation. She already got teased for the way she dressed. She'd just essentially be doing what Santana and Puck had been telling her all along and sexing up her prudish style without having to step too far outside her comfort zone.

With some trepidation, she'd shown up to school feeling the tiniest bit ridiculous. She was worried for a second this would just be a repeat of what happened when she let Kurt make her over. It was amazing to see that that wasn't the case at all.

Walking down the hall, boys' eyes were glued to her. And it was thrilling to see it wasn't with the usual disgust but with desire. Girls also watched her, scornfully like always, but there was jealousy there too, because the boys wouldn't stop looking. Those boys wanted her. They wanted Rachel Berry, school freak, someone they'd usually be throwing slushies at. And the girls couldn't stand the thought of it.

Was this what it felt like to be Britney Spears?

If it was, Rachel was already addicted. It was powerful and intoxicating and better than anything she'd ever felt.

_They want me. They want me. They want me._

Suddenly, it occurred to her that she wanted Finn to see her like this. She didn't want it to wait until glee, she wanted to get his reaction first hand without any distractions. Doubling back, she headed in the direction of their lockers, taking her time to appreciate the reactions she evoked along the way. A devilish smile touched her lips when she caught sight of a familiar head of bright blond ducked into his locker. Why pass up this opportunity? She slowed a fraction more to give him time look her way.

Rachel was rewarded with the sight of his face as his eyes first landed on her, and then proceeded traveled up and down her figure. His jaw dropped, letting his wide, full lips fall open. His cheeks grew flushed. His folder was starting to slip out of his slack fingers.

"Good morning Samuel," she greeted him sweetly.

Her voice seemed to wake him up. His mouth closed, his teeth making an audible click and his hands, once slack, now had a tight, white-knuckled grip on his binder.

"R-Rachel."

"See you in class." She gave him a little waggle of her fingers in parting and sashayed off.

The sound of a choking noise behind her had her doing a mental fist pump into the air. She really was enjoying this too much.

Now, to find Finn.

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><p>What the hell?<p>

After weeks of avoiding him, had that really been Rachel who'd just walked up to him, dressed like that, to wish him a good morning before sauntering away? He was still reeling from the sight of her. Sam saw enough of her that he had a good idea of how she dressed every day. How she looked this morning? Definitely not the usual Rachel Berry. He wondered if he was still at home dreaming because he could trust his imagination to come up with something like this. It was like she'd just stepped out of his craziest coed fantasies from when he'd been at his old school.

Seeing her again in class dressed exactly the same way had him both dismayed and captivated. It was like he couldn't look away. He kept on imagining they were alone in the classroom and she was asking him to punish her for being a bad, bad girl. The only time he could briefly yank his attention away from her was when the teacher had to smack her meter stick on her desk to snap him, and the rest of the guys in that class out of it.

Thinking of meter sticks ended up just making things worse.

Lunch couldn't have come soon enough. He needed to retreat somewhere private to get his cool back. Seriously, it felt like he'd been about to blow his top in the middle of Chem when Rachel started doing unholy things with her pen in her boredom.

He hadn't even realized where he'd been going until he was already there pulling the door open. The auditorium. A spike of guilt rose in him. This was where his audition would have been if he'd taken the guys up on the offer. Rachel had shown him the auditorium during their tour but he hadn't really been inside yet. Though remembering skipping the audition made him feel bad, he decided this was as good a place as any to hide out in. It was quiet and there was nobody else around.

Sinking into one of the seats towards the back, he let himself relax, letting his eyes close. Forgetting about Rachel and her outfit was almost easy now. He felt like drifting off and the only thing that crossed his mind every now and then was which comics he'd be buying at the comic store after football practice today.

He was so out of it, he barely heard the sound of the auditorium door opening and closing. Drowsily, he lifted his head from where it had fallen against the back of his seat. Blinking the near sleep out of his eyes, he tried to figure out what was going on. The lights on the stage were being turned on and he heard music begin to play. Ducking down so he wouldn't be seen, he peered through the gap in the seats at the stage.

And almost went into cardiac arrest.

It was like no matter where he went, he couldn't escape her. There she was, up on stage, dancing even more sexily than she had during the courtyard performance. The song choice proved to be more than he could handle.

_There's only two types of people in the world_  
><em>The ones that entertain and the ones that observe<em>  
><em>Well baby, I a put-on show type of girl<em>  
><em>Don't like the back seat, gotta be first<em>

Feeling too much like a creep just sitting and watching and suffocated by the heat of his own clothing, Sam fled the auditorium, wondering if the sound of a whip cracking was just his imagination playing tricks on him again.

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><p>Rachel was tired. It had been a long week.<p>

She never realized how exhausting it was to be objectified. Dressing the part took more effort, confidence, and patience with those God-awful heels than the diva possessed on a regular basis. Someday she might meet the challenge, but for now, she was satisfied with her conservative sweaters and comfy flats. It made her a little ashamed that she'd let the influence of Britney Spears get to her head so much. Having boys drool after her had been a fun experience, but in the end, she'd upset Finn and only had undesirables like Jacob Ben Israel and Azimio Adams leering after her. The performance at the homecoming assembly had been what finally driven home the point that Britney wasn't the answer and that it had only resulted in making her act (more) selfish, arrogant and inconsiderate.

Stepping into Math that morning, she had to fight the blush of embarrassment coming on. Rachel was always first to class, but it appeared as if someone had beaten her there today. That someone being Sam Evans. She'd taken advantage of him all throughout the week, using his response to gauge how good she looked when she couldn't find Santana or Kurt to tell her. She'd actually enjoyed flustering him. What must he think of her now, she wondered. Did he think she was a slut?

Her brown met his green for a second before she looked away, darting to her seat against the wall towards the front. The next couple of minutes passed quietly, allowing Rachel to continue stewing.

"Hey," Sam said, startling her out of her thoughts.

She hadn't even noticed him walk over and plop into the seat next to her.

"Hello Samuel," she said back timidly.

"You changed back."

"Yes I did."

She tugged at her red sweater self-consciously.

"You look better this way."

"Really?" she asked breathlessly, almost not believing he'd said it.

"I mean, you looked nice that way too," he rushed to inform her, his cheeks dusting pink, "It was kind of hot, but, this," he gestured from her free hair, to her sweater, to her dress, to her flats, "seems more like the girl I met the first day of school. And I really like her."

Rachel was so touched, she was speechless. It wasn't often people admitted to liking her. These days, it seemed like pulling teeth to get even her own friends to do it. She'd assumed after Sam had found the truth out about glee, he wouldn't want anything to do with her. This assumption had only been reinforced by his no show at auditions. Looking into his eyes, she could see he was being sincere.

"Thank you," she finally whispered.

"Now can we be friends or do you have to keep avoiding me?"

"I'd like very much to be friends." Feeling unbearably shy, she glanced at him. "You do realize your popularity will take a hit when other people figure out I am your friend."

"I'm kind of starting to not care what other people think." He smiled at her again. "So, what brought on the crazy Britney Spears thing at the assembly?"

Returning the smile, she started explaining to him in depth how it all started with Kurt and ended with Mr. Shuester finally saying yes. He laughed when she told him about the different hallucinations everyone had. In turn, he told her about how he narrowly dodged being trampled at the assembly. Eventually, they had to stop talking, because the teacher interrupted them by getting the lesson started. Halfway through class, she realized she'd made her first friend outside of glee. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that surprising. She'd been right that day when she'd first met him. Sam _was_ a decent guy.

And already turning out to be an even better friend.

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><p>AN: I kind of hated this chapter at the beginning and then it got better at the end. Yay. The song featured is "Circus" by Britney Spears. I thought it appropriate for the moment.<p> 


	3. I do believe in Grilled Cheesus!

I do believe in Grilled Cheesus! I do! I do!

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><p>It had become a bit of a thing for them. If they didn't already have plans for lunch, they'd find an empty classroom to have lunch together. Rachel had insisted that they keep their lunch time rendezvous private, claiming that even if they were friends, she still didn't want to tarnish his reputation. Personally, Sam thought it was kind of stupid. He'd told her before that he didn't care if everyone knew they were friends and he'd meant it. Unfortunately, Rachel was stubborn as a mule at having it her way and wouldn't agree to lunch under any other circumstances. And he really didn't want to go back to the way things were before when she was avoiding him. It had really bummed him out.<p>

Today, Rachel was daintily picking at whatever vegan stuff she'd brought to school to eat while working on homework that was assigned that day and wasn't even due for a week at most. Not that he had any right to be judging her. He was doing homework too. Except it was due next period and he was starting to be worried he wasn't going to finish by the end of lunch period. Just as he was mentally preparing himself to throw all of his effort into the next set of problems, Sam was interrupted by Rachel trying to get his attention.

"What?"

"Did you miss my question Samuel?"

"Yeah, I guess."

He gave her an apologetic look.

"It's perfectly alright. You were focused on your work."

"What were you asking me?"

"Would you ever believe that a sandwich had divine powers?" she asked, her brows furrowed.

The strangeness of the question had him flapping his jaw uncomprehendingly. At his shocked silence, Rachel elaborated.

"Someone close to me told me in confidence that they believed that their grilled cheese had some sort of direct line to God, apparently because the face of Jesus is burned onto one side of it and when they prayed to it, their prayer was answered," she explained, "And now, because they believe they can talk to God through their sandwich, they decided to convert to Christianity."

"Is there something wrong with being Christian?"

"No," Rachel quickly denied, "I'd be a hypocrite to say that. Saying that that person wanting to be Christian is bad is like saying anyone having religion, myself included considering I am of the Jewish faith, is bad."

"Then what do you have a problem with?"

"I don't believe in sandwiches that let you talk to God." She frowned. "I believe that when I pray, I speak to Him, just like anyone else does. But using a sandwich with Jesus's face on it to speak to Him? I refuse. It's simply ridiculous."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why is believing in sandwiches ridiculous?" Sam asked when she continued to stare at him perplexed.

"Because... because it's a sandwich."

"This person you're telling me about, they believe that this grilled cheese is making their life better."

"Yes but..."

"I'm not saying I'm not with you on how praying to a grilled cheese seems pretty crazy, but everyone needs something to believe in I guess." A tiny grin pulled at his features. "There's this quote from one of my favorite movies. 'I don't care what you believe in, just believe in it.' Like you said earlier, he believes in it, so you should let him believe."

For half a minute, he thought she was going to try and argue with him. Rachel liked debating topics in class until it ended in her being right or at a standstill with an opponent. But to his relief (and some amazement) she cocked her head to the side thoughtfully and smiled at him. And it struck him for a moment that she was really pretty. He was so engrossed in trying to pin down the exact reason why he thought that, that he almost missed her speaking again.

"That's a very wise thing of you to say," she said softly, "You've given me a lot to think about."

"Really?" Sam asked feeling confused, "I mean, I'm not wise and all. I was just, you know, quoting stuff and saying how I felt about it."

"Well, your quotes are very insightful and your feelings have inspired me. I've always considered myself a very tolerant person, my dads are gay and I don't judge my peers for not having the same vision of the future I possess, but I do think that I have room to grow as a person and go farther than just tolerance. I must offer my support to him even if I may disagree." Rachel nodded to herself until she paused then looked at Sam. "How did you know it was a he?"

"Girls are usually smart enough to not worship sandwiches."

It was almost scary how bright Rachel's eyes got.

"I knew I liked you for a reason Samuel."

His response was cut off by the sound of the bell. His eyes went wide as they shot from the clock to his paper in panic.

"Shit."

"What is it?" Rachel asked as she turned her attention away from packing up her things.

"I didn't finish my assignment!" He looked to her. "It's due next period!"

"Hmm." She set her bag back down, sat back at her desk and pulled it closer to his. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to tell you the answers and you're going to listen and write them down. In your own words." She hastily added on.

Yeah, probably a good thing to do, considering that even on paper, Sam sounded like an idiot child compared to Rachel when she was just talking. Still, he couldn't quell the nagging feeling. Like he wasn't being honest.

"I don't know Rachel. It's cool of you offer to give me the answers but, isn't this cheating?"

"Nonsense," she tutted, "It's my fault I distracted you from your work. As long as this is the last time this happens and you don't become dependent on me providing you answers for your homework on a daily basis, it's alright this one time. Now are you ready? We've dallied enough already and passing period isn't all that long for you to write the answers and arrive at your class on time."

"I'm good," he said, his pencil at the ready.

As she dictated, he wrote the answers down, smiling gratefully.

* * *

><p>Somehow, the game had quickly transformed into something she only ever had nightmares about.<p>

While she was there to support her boyfriend first and foremost at the game, Rachel was also there to cheer on everyone else on the team who was her friend. There was Mike, Puck, Artie (she was so proud of him for transcending the expectation of being able to walk most football players were subjected to) and finally, Sam. Of course, she'd been silently cheering him on in her mind, since no one else knew. And she'd have definitely been asked questions by Tina who was sitting with her as well, cheering for Mike.

Everything had seemed fine at the time. Rachel knew little about football. Even though she'd been dating Finn for a while now, she'd never quite grasped the point of the game, and couldn't understand why it was entertaining to watch someone be injured. She remembered all of the times she'd imagined it had been Finn getting knocked down like that when she went to watch his games. Looking as if he wouldn't ever get up. Her mind would sometimes run away with the details. Finn with a concussion. Finn in a coma. Finn dying. She'd throw herself onto him and weep over his body. It was little melodramatic of her, but that was how she was. Ultimately, at the conclusion of every game, she was thankful to see he always walked away from it, a little banged up and bruised but fine.

And the thing was, Finn was fine. From a certain point of view, he was actually better than fine.

But the same couldn't have been said about Sam.

The second Sam hit the ground, Rachel was out of her seat and screaming his name. She couldn't have been bothered to care what Tina thought about how she was acting, she was just so scared seeing him go down. Besides, it seemed as if her reaction had been drowned out by the roar of the crowd as the McKinley High's supporters yelled their outrage at the foul play that had befallen their quarterback.

She watched as Coach Beiste ran out onto the field yelling, and people started lifting and putting Sam onto a stretcher. As she watched Sam get taken away, she found herself not knowing what she was supposed to do.

Did she chase after the stretcher? Or did she stay for the rest of the game?

Her hesitation and indecisiveness took the decision out of her hands. When she looked across the field again, Sam was gone, the game had resumed and the crowd had returned to its original fervor as if nothing had happened. Rachel couldn't help but feel miserable. The least she could have done was go with him to the hospital to and check on him. See if he was alright. Offer to sit at his bedside and keep him company. She knew she'd want Finn and some of the glee club members to do that for her if something happened to her.

"Rachel, are you alright?"

Beside her Tina looked at her concerned.

"No, I don't think so." Rachel shook her head. "I think I feel sick."

"It's alright," the Asian girl said, patting her back awkwardly, "I know how you feel. Seeing guys get hurt out there still makes me a little queasy. At least it wasn't one of ours though, right?"

"Yeah," Rachel replied shakily.

Except it _had_ been one of hers.

* * *

><p>It was like the guilt knife in her gut was twisted in when she saw him the next morning in a sling. Before she even knew what she was doing, she started babbling apologies over and over until she felt dizzy from lack of oxygen.<p>

"Woah, Rachel. School hasn't even started yet and you're already talking a mile a minute. Breathe!" Sam ordered, placing the hand of his good arm on her shoulder, "Now seriously, what are you apologizing about?"

"I went to the game last night," she told him, tears welling up in her eyes, "And I saw you get hurt."

"Oh," Sam said, wincing as he glanced down at his injury, "Yeah. That. But why are you sorry? It's not your fault; it was that jackass linebacker who did this to me. But you realize it's a contact sport and someone's bound to get hurt right?"

"That's not it," Rachel said, returning to the edge of hysteria, "I know you're going to get hurt, I've gone to enough McKinley High and seen the team get knocked around at enough games to know that but," she took a breath, "I saw you get hit and looked so bad, and I was really scared and I wanted to go with you to the hospital to make sure you were okay." Her bottom lip trembled. "God, you went to the hospital Sam. It could've been so much worse."

"What's really making you this upset Rachel?" Sam asked her concerned, "I feel like there's more to this than just me dislocating my shoulder."

"It seems like so many bad things are happening to my friends and I don't know how to help them." She gently reached out to his arm in the sling. "My friend Kurt, his dad was recently put into a coma after having a heart attack. And a boy, Zach, who I give singing lessons to," Rachel's trembling had become shaking now, "He's paralyzed from the neck down after he got hurt in a football game like you. And when I saw you hit the ground and not get back up, that was what I thought about. You in the hospital, hurt and alone and everything I did would be just as useless as I did for Kurt, and his dad, and to that boy."

"You're crying," Sam said softly, before tugging his sleeve farther down his hand and blotting at her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," the tiny brunette apologized, feeling embarrassed and flustered, though she didn't push his hand away.

"And you're apologizing and I still don't know why." He lent down a bit to catch her eyes. "I don't think anything you do is useless Rach. Maybe excessive, but it's the thought that counts right?"

"I just feel like I'm not doing enough."

"Unless you have some magical healing powers and you've been holding out , caring so much you'd cry for me is plenty enough. But I don't want to see you crying anymore though. I feel bad I made you cry in the first place. Guys aren't supposed to make girls cry."

Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"That's amusing, because boys are really good at making girls cry in my personal experience."

"You're allowed to sock me in the mouth if I do it again. And you should do it to any other guy who does too."

She smiled, ducking her head before looking at his arm.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not so much. As long as I don't move it. And lookie here." He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a prescription bottle and shook it like a rattle. "Promise I'm not abusing them. Doctor gave them to me as an in case I felt any pain."

"That's good I suppose." She frowned. "Will you be able to play after this?" She went red. "I just... I remember when I got laryngitis and thought I'd never be able to sing again. I just wanted to know if dislocating your arm would affect your ability to play."

"Once it's healed, I can play again. I won't be first string quarterback anymore, but that's alright," he told her with a reassuring smile when he saw her look, "Seriously, the position doesn't matter to me that much. When I get better, if I want the job back, I'll talk to Beiste about contesting Finn for it."

The girl hesitated at the mention of Finn before shaking it away.

"You know what?" she asked Sam with a wide grin, "That sounds like an excellent plan. I encourage you to go through with trying for the spot once more. I'll even bake you celebratory vegan sugar cookies if you make it."

"Cookies?" Sam asked perking up.

"Cookies."

"What if I don't?" he asked with a frown, "You know, get first string?"

"I'll probably bake you some cookies anyways."

He reached over and gave her a one-armed hug.

"You rock so much right now."

* * *

><p>AN: The last episode? Kind of epic. It was amazing to see Quinn (or should I say Lucy?) knocked down a couple pegs. Still love her, but she's been getting a bit too bitchy lately. But... (cue Sue) Horror! The preview for next episode: is the KurtSam thing for realsies or is Murphy screwing with us again? Cause he killed my Fabrevans, and if he shoots my Klaine and leaves it bleeding out in a dark alleyway somewhere in Ohio, whilst aborting my beautiful Evanberry dream, I will cut a sparsely haired bitch. While I weep tears of fanshipping misery.


	4. Made to Finish Your Duet

Made to Finish Your Duet

* * *

><p>"Thank you very much for the advanced warning!" Rachel threw sarcastically over her shoulder.<p>

"Hey, don't be like that," Sam said with an amused smile on his face as he trailed after her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded rounding on him.

His arms rose up in surrender.

"I wanted it to be a surprise!" He scratched the back of his head. "A good surprise. It was a good surprise right?"

"I..." Her irritation with him bled away. "It was a good surprise. You came at a fortuitous time for the club. One of our members is currently... not with us right now."

"But what about you? Aren't _you _happy I joined?"

"Of course Sam," she answered him, her eyes softening, "Of course I'm happy."

"Good," he said, falling into step beside her, "Because I talked the talk about not caring about what other people think about me, but I think it's about time I walked the walk. You get me?"

"I suppose." She glanced over at him. "Yeah. I do."

* * *

><p>All of his friends from his old school used teased him about being slow to pick things up. Only now was he starting to get what they meant.<p>

It was obvious Rachel had a boyfriend. She gushed about him all the time (though she never did mention what his name was), so he'd have be deaf to not know. Sam had just shrugged it off though. It wasn't that he didn't care, it was more that he didn't really want to hear about her boyfriend. Unlike most guys he knew, he knew when he liked someone. He liked someone now and that someone was Rachel. In a seriously like like, I want to date her a lot, sort of like. But he'd been willing to just be friends for a while because she was taken (_not for long_- he'd been muttering to himself) and his best chance was if he got to know her better and she got to know him better. It had been easy for him, thinking about stealing her from some nameless, faceless dude who he was one hundred percent sure he could beat at being a better boyfriend. Things had suddenly become a lot more complicated when he figured out just who her boyfriend really was.

Sam wasn't the type to judge people based on stereotypes, but there was no way in hell he would have ever envisioned a relationship between Rachel, his current best friend, crush and glee club captain, and Finn Hudson, his captain, his teammate, and his best bro at McKinley. It was against bro code to steal your bro's girl no matter how much you liked her. With that in mind, Sam had to back off. Of course he was disappointed. All those plans he'd had to convince Rachel to dump her boyfriend for him, down the drain. It was hard to even be mad at Finn, because he really liked Finn too. Even though he and Rachel looked super awkward and mismatched together, they seemed happy. And that was what mattered right?

He tried to remind himself of that as he tried to fill the Rachel shaped hole at his side that glee seemed to create. It wasn't even that she was ignoring Sam. It was just that if Finn was in the same room as them, it was like Sam stopped existing. Even when she wasn't giving Finn her undivided attention, she was too busy talking proposals with Mr. Shue for the sectionals playlist to let him get her attention. And he had to admit that it stung a bit that he'd joined to spend more time with her only to get no time in edgewise with her to himself. But he guessed that maybe that was to be expected. She had her boyfriend and glee club captain stuff to take care of, and the duet competition Mr. Shue had told them about. It was tough. He wanted to be selfish and childish about it, but he forced himself to accept the fact that Rachel had a life outside of being just his friend and the current object of his unrequited crush.

Well, at least there were some upsides. Most of the glee kids were ridiculously nice to him. That one guy, the boy he'd seen slushie'd, Kurt, had offered to be his partner for duets and he was pretty if good if a little weird and intense. Not to mention it gave him a chance to make up for not stepping in to stop those guys then. And even if Rachel had a boyfriend, at least he still had Rachel all to himself for most of his classes and the occasional lunch.

Besides, the cheerleaders in glee were kinda pretty.

Especially the one with green eyes.

* * *

><p>It took her only a second to know what had happened.<p>

Damp hair, puffy red eyes, stained shirt collar.

She knew all the signs of a slushie victim. Rachel, of course, had a lot of experience in being one. It was amazing that she didn't explode the minute she saw him. He'd quietly slipped into class when it had been already five minutes in session. That was completely unlike Sam, who cared about punctuality to class almost as much as she did. Once she'd put together all of the signs, her mind quickly bypassed horror and sympathy to settle at anger for his sake.

Someone had slushied her friend.

The second class for the day was over, she stormed out. She was so angry right now, that if she stopped to talk to someone right now, she wouldn't be able to stop whatever verbal landslide was waiting to burst on the unwitting bystander. It wasn't much of a surprise that she found herself in the auditorium like she usually did when she wanted a place to herself where she could get her feelings out. Pulling herself onto the stage, she went to the sound system to plug in her ipod. Scrolling through her playlists, she found the first song that suited her mood and let it play.

_"Now_  
><em>Don't just walk away<em>  
><em>Pretending everything's okay and you don't care about me..."<em>

The door opened loud enough to let her know someone had joined her in the auditorium. She didn't care enough to stop, so she pushed on with the song.

_"And I _  
><em>Know it's just no use<em>  
><em>When all your lies become your truths and I don't care."<em>

There was gold blond in the corner of her eye and Rachel watched as Sam lowered himself into one of the seats directly in front of her.

_"Could you you look me in the eye_  
><em>And tell me that you're happy now?<em>  
><em>Would you tell it to my face, or have I been erased?<em>  
><em>Are you happy now?<em>  
><em>Are you happy now?"<em>

His face betrayed nothing of what he was feeling. He simply sat there, continuing to listen to her sing impassively. The minute the song was over, he stood and walked up to the stage.

"You're angry."

Her shoulders slumped as she stepped forward to the edge of the stage and lowered herself to her knees before him.

"Not as much now. Just really sad." She reached down and touched his still damp shirt collar. "You got slushied."

"Yeah," Sam said, looking a bit upset at being reminded, "It was Karofsky and Azimio. They did it because I joined up with glee. Because I'm doing a duet with Kurt."

"It's because they're homophobic brutes who attack any male they perceive as strange or abnormal or effeminate. And glee isn't the most masculine activity. You don't understand how much you joining means to me, and I want you to stay and the glee club needs new members, but you don't have to stay. You're already a jock, you don't need glee club." She sighed. "You can quit Sam. I don't want to hold you to this if it isn't what you signed up for."

"I admit I wasn't expecting the slushie. I kind of thought, because I was on the team, they wouldn't do that to me. Target me because, you know..."

"They slushied Finn and Puck last year," Rachel told him quietly, "Quinn too. And they've slushied me, and Artie, and Kurt, and Tina, and Mercedes. If they have a reason to not like you, nothing gets in the way of them slushie-ing you."

"I'm not going to quit though," Sam said, causing her to blink in surprise, "I'm not a quitter and I won't let anyone like those jerks make me leave, no matter how many slushies to the face I get." His expression grew determined. "Besides, I made a promise to Kurt. I'm not going to go back on it."

"I hope you understand that you're setting yourself up for a lot of adversity."

"No offense Rachel, but if anyone has set themselves up for a lot of adversity, it's you. If you can brave it, so can I." He crossed his arms and gave her a cheeky grin. "The day I quit is the day you quit."

"You're incorrigible."

He tapped her on the nose, causing her to squeak indignantly at him.

"So just how late to our next class do you think we are?"

"We have to get to class!" Rachel yelped, realizing what he'd said, and grabbing his wrist to drag him along.

Laughing, he allowed her to frantically pull him along.

* * *

><p>"That was great," he said, falling into step with the short girl.<p>

"It was wasn't it?" Rachel asked, the corners of her lips pulled so wide, Sam was sure it had to hurt.

"If the duet competition wasn't already over, I might've voted that one as winner instead of mine."

"Now you're just being silly. Yours and Quinn's duet was truly wonderful and most deserving of winning."

"So what gave you the idea to sing that duet with Kurt?" Seeing her bite her lip, he frowned. "I mean, I'm glad someone did sing with him, especially after he said he didn't want to partner with me anymore... But, I don't know. I just wanted to know."

For a moment, he thought she wouldn't tell him. He really was curious about what caused his friend and Kurt to do a duet together when the duet competition was already over. While he was interested in hearing Rachel's side, what he really wanted to know was why Kurt would sing with her after breaking it off with him and singing his own duet. It had been kind of strange how that happened, but he'd tried to be supportive and cheered a lot when the other boy sang his duet with… himself.

After a moment of silence, however, Rachel spoke.

"My relationship with Kurt is complex. I could honestly say that last year, we weren't really friends. More like rivals and not even nice ones. I really wasn't friends with anyone, even in the glee club. I'm not the easiest person to get along with."

Sam frowned.

"I don't think so. I think you're really easy to get along with."

"That's sweet Sam, but I think you may be the only person who feels that way." He hated how sad she sounded saying that. "Out of the entire club, the person I feel I am most like is Kurt. If there was anyone I should have been friends with, it was Kurt. We love the same musicals, we both want to be famous, we're both divas, we want to go to New York. I have two gay dads and he's the only out gay teen in Lima. We both understand the pain and loneliness of being hated by this school for just being who we are." She looked down. "I should've been reaching out to him this entire time. Instead, I've bullied him out of solos and I put him down for going after Finn. What I'm doing now, it might be too little too late."

"At least you're trying," Sam said, trying to cut through the melancholy she was sinking into with some optimism, "He seemed really happy singing with you in there."

She looked over at him and sighed.

"Yes, I suppose he did."

So much for that. He had to think. What could he do to cheer her up? Suddenly, a brilliant plan came to him. They continued to walk for stretch of time before Sam stopped, his plan nicely hammered out.

"Hey Rachel. Are you free tonight?"

"I am. Why?"

"I wanna hang out tonight. With you," he made sure to add.

"Really? What kind of hanging out are you suggesting?"

"There's this cafe near where I live. It's nice. And guess what?"

"What Sam?"

"They have karaoke. Kurt got a chance to have a duet with you. Now I get one too."

"That... that sounds lovely."

"You think?" Sam asked hopefully, "It will be a lot of fun. I promise."

And when Sam Evans promised something, he sure as hell was going to keep that promise.

* * *

><p>Rachel had worried a little bit about going out that evening with Sam. It wasn't that she doubted she'd have fun with Sam. He was infinitely more pleasant to spend time with than many of the people she associated with. For one, he actually tried to care when she opened her mouth to speak and asked thoughtful questions if there was something he didn't understand. (Unlike most people who just nodded absent mindedly with glazed eyes.) The problem lay with the fact that she'd had more than her fair share of awful experiences with kareoke. Even if people said open mic, it didn't mean the people were open to you. Rachel knew dealing with adversity built character, but she liked avoiding being booed off stage or having things thrown at her if she could help her. Those kinds of things weren't conducive to having a fun night.<p>

She needn't have worried though.

It seemed that Sam had put quite a bit of forethought into their outing because the karaoke bar he chose had private karaoke rooms. Maybe he'd anticipated they'd be given trouble trying to sing publicly. Maybe he was still a little shy about his singing and wanted to keep it to just them. Either way, Rachel was grateful.

"I'm Yours?" Rachel asked at one point when she saw the song choice for their duet.

His blush took her a bit aback.

"I figured I'd stick to something that I do well, you know, since my duet with Quinn went so well."

"Ah, that's right. Your song choice for the duet was 'Lucky' by Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait."

There was a lull where it seemed Sam had nothing to say and was moving to just start the music, but instead he turned her. He looked so content and his smile was so big. She didn't understand why, but she smiled with him. His good cheer was infectious.

"Me and Quinn. We're going to go out together," he finally told her, his cheeks still flushed with boyish eagerness, "As friends!" He quickly added. "To Breadstix, with that coupon we won. I kind of really like her. I mean, she's really pretty. And awesome in that cool sort of way. I want to her to be my girlfriend." His eyes went wide. "I've never had a girlfriend before Rachel."

It took a minute for her to quell the giggles that bubbled up when he said that. He seemed disgruntled until, after searching her face, he realized that she wasn't trying to mock him.

"You're just so sweet Sam," she said, "It's so adorable. And charming."

"Are guys supposed to be adorable?" he asked with a frown, "Charming's supposed to be good though, right? Like, I can be Prince Charming and Quinn's the beautiful princess." He paused. "Will I have to rescue her from a dragon or a tower, or something?"

As he babbled, Rachel thought about what he said. Prince Charming and the beautiful princess huh? That seemed to fit Sam and Quinn to a T.

However, something in her chest tightened as she visualized it. In the selfish parts of her mind and heart, she hated the thought of those two together. If she set her feelings aside, she could acknowledge they'd make a good couple. Aesthetically, they were stunning together. Musically, they were also well matched and harmonious. Lastly, Quinn needed someone who would be good to her after the disaster with Finn, Puck and the baby. Someone like Sam. But Rachel was scared. Sam was turning out to be her best friend, as horrible as it was to admit that he was the only candidate even after the last school year with the glee club. Did she really want to let Quinn sink her claws into another thing she cared about?

Quickly, she gave herself a mental slap. Quinn wasn't her enemy anymore. They were teammates and she held out on the hope they could be friends. She needed to stop letting her jealousy of Quinn and all of the things the other girl had done to her in the past get in the way. If the blonde could get over Rachel stealing her boyfriend and telling Finn that the baby wasn't his, Rachel could get over her own issues too.

"You'll be the perfect Prince Charming and sweep her clean off her feet," Rachel finally said, trying to convincingly convey support to him, "You might have to fight a dragon, but all things worth having come with some difficulty, right?"

"You really think so?" he asked hopefully. She nodded and he suddenly swooped in for a hug, "You're a good friend Rachel."

"Really?" she breathed out.

"One of the best."

That managed to put her in a good mood for the rest of the night as they went on to sing their "I'm Yours" duet perfectly. The misgivings about what she was already nicknaming "Fabrevans" in her mind were tucked away for the moment. All she had to do was remind herself that Sam was her friend. And she trusted him as both a good person and her friend to not let the Quinn thing ruin their friendship. No matter what happened.

* * *

><p>AN: So I've neglected this story for a very long time. Since season 2 was running. I'm really sorry for all of you who have been waiting on it for so long. I know a lot has happened in Gleeland since then. Sam is apparently with Mercedes and the monstrosity that is Finchel still exists sort of. And apparently Sam and Blaine have secretly been a year younger than most of the other glee club members. Totally did not know that pre-S3. That makes things complicated. I realize that I said that Rachel and Sam have a lot of classes together. And I realize that them being different grades makes that kind of hard to actually happen. So we're just going to say that whatever electives the two picked coincide and then maybe Rachel can be a student TA for another one of Sam's classes. Hopefully that's a believable enough excuse.<p>

AN2: I'm trying to take suggestions from your guys's reviews. I mentioned Finn a bit more (though he didn't actually appear) and I got them in a situation outside of school. I'll continue trying to pull other characters into the story and expanding the world around them, but remember that this story focuses around them and their friendship's progression. Since their friendship is private, it's going to be a lot of just their interactions and personal thoughts about each other.


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